Chapter 55: Steamed Rice and Bean Sprout Hangover Soup

Machoking’s profession was Farmer.

In a world of Real that had only been open for less than half a month, the Farmer profession was truly rare.

Still, there were more Farmers than Chefs.

That was because there simply weren’t enough ingredients or cooking tools for anyone to properly work as a Chef in this world.

Irim, who had been gathering various ingredients and cooking utensils by completing quests everywhere and building friendships with NPCs, was a very special case.

Machoking stood on the Void Plains.

He glanced around, looked up at the sky, then tilted his head.

“There’s land everywhere, so why can’t we cultivate fields? The climate is this good, yet the soil is dead? That’s really weird.”

Machoking squatted down and poked the cracked, dry ground with his finger.

“It’s completely drought-stricken.”

For Machoking, who made his living as a farmer in real life, the situation was incomprehensible.

At that moment, he spotted two figures far away.

A tall, handsome man and a boy with green hair.

“Hm? That handsome guy looks familiar.”

Machoking narrowed his eyes, then quickly walked over.

As he got closer, the man’s features became clearer, and he finally remembered who it was.

“It’s Rice hyung! Rice hyung~!”

Machoking ran over with a childlike, beaming face, waving his hand.

Just then, the green-haired boy, Fertile, dug into the ground with the Hoe of Abundance and slipped inside.

In an instant, the cracked, barren soil was covered with fertile earth.

Machoking, who had been running, stopped dead in his tracks.

“Huh?”

Grass, flowers, and trees sprouted on the now-rich soil.

He looked back at Irim.

Where the green-haired boy had burrowed, a massive, beautiful ancient tree now stood rooted.

“What kind of sorcery is this?”

He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but one thing was certain.

“Rice hyung did something amazing again.”

Machoking quickly approached Irim.

But Irim didn’t even notice him standing right beside him; he was staring blankly into empty space.

Right now, only Irim could see a hologram unfolding before his eyes.

Fertile popped out from the ancient tree.

He smiled with satisfaction at the land that had regained its green glow, then vanished like a ghost.

Soon, farmers holding hoes appeared all across the wide plain, and fields were created in various places.

All kinds of crops grew there.

The farmers harvested their crops with huge smiles on their faces.

Their smiles were brighter than the midday sun.

[Thanks to Rice’s efforts, the Void Plains have regained their former fertility. The people of Badran will be able to farm here, harvest grains and crops, and live in abundance. The Void Plains will once again be called by its old name, “Plains of Abundance.” Rice has gifted many people a history of plenty.]

The video and text slowly faded from Irim’s vision, and the History Book status window appeared.

History Book (HISTORY)  

[Completed Main Stream]  

None (NONE)  

[Completed Sub-Scenarios]  

– The Red Queen Spider’s Regret  

– Rozelan’s Cooking Master  

– Lost Sense of Taste

– Marina’s Regret  

– Cave of Salvation Crops  

[A new footprint has been recorded in the History Book. Bonus stat points +5 have been granted.]

Irim was gradually getting a feel for what scale of events were recorded in the History Book.

He invested the bonus points into Agility, his lowest stat.

Then another message filled his vision.

[Achievement Unlocked!] 

Achievement Obtained: Interfere with History!  

Condition: Record five sub-scenarios in the History Book  

Reward: Title – The One Who Walks Ahead  

[Title: The One Who Walks Ahead]  

Description: You are faithfully fulfilling your duty as a pioneer. To you, who walks ahead of others and restores the lost memories of the Azelran continent, the blessings of the gods will always be with you wherever you go.  

Effects: All base stats +5, All attributes +10  

[Title effects are applied automatically, and effects from all obtained titles stack.]

Ooh.

Irim inwardly trembled with excitement.

This was his second title.

The first title he had earned, “Claw Lizard Massacre!”, only increased all stats by 20% when facing Claw Lizards, so it wasn’t very useful normally.

But the effects of The One Who Walks Ahead were tremendous.

And it didn’t end there.

[You have contributed to the peace of Badran. Contribution +30 gained.]  

[Most citizens of Bazelen now recognize you. Favorability with Badran citizens has slightly increased overall.]  

[Fame +10 gained.]  

[Rumors of Rice are spreading throughout the Count of Beatrice’s territory. One bard is currently composing a song based on Rice’s exploits.]

Just by turning the barren plain fertile, he gained a whopping 30 contribution points.

He even gained Fame.

They’re making a song?

Irim found it fascinating that a bard was composing a song about his deeds.

It made his chest feel ticklish.

“Rice hyung!”

Irim, who had been immersed in his own happy little world, was startled by the sudden deep voice beside him and turned his head.

There stood a familiar player.

“Huh?”

Irim recognized him by the nickname floating above his head.

“It’s Machoking.”

“Yes! Have you been well, hyung?”

“Could you maybe do something about calling me hyung? It’s a bit burdensome.”

“Once I decide to call someone hyung, it’s hyung until the end! No take-backs!”

Machoking clenched his fist.

The muscles and veins on his tanned forearm bulged fiercely.

No matter how much Irim asked, he seemed like the type to do whatever he wanted, so Irim just gave up.

“By the way, hyung, how on earth did you do that? A dried-up plain suddenly turning fertile isn’t exactly normal.”

Searching for common sense in a virtual reality game was foolish to begin with.

Yet Machoking still looked utterly baffled.

Seeing that, Irim chuckled.

He didn’t seem like a bad person at heart.

“Just… a lot of things happened.”

As the two exchanged a few words,

several players who had been watching Irim from afar approached and started talking.

“That was definitely Fertile who just dug into the ground, right? Wasn’t he the one who never moved from that rock?”

“Fertile has completely disappeared now. Damn it, I still needed the salvation crop quest.”

“That’s not the point, guys. Can’t you see the plain came back to life? Open the map; the name changed. It’s not Void Plains anymore; it’s Plains of Abundance.”

“For real?”

“Dude, what the hell did you do?”

Irim felt flustered by the sudden flood of questions.

Then Machoking stepped forward, flexing his arm muscles and glaring menacingly.

“Everyone! Can’t you see my hyung and I are in the middle of a conversation? What’s with the manners?”

“Hey, what’s your problem? Can’t we even ask a question? Why so overprotective.”

“Let’s just go, guys.”

“So annoying.”

Thanks to Machoking stepping in, the players left.

Machoking watched them walk away, then turned to Irim.

“Hyung! From now on, if anyone bothers you, just whisper me anytime! I’ll come running whenever I’m online!”

“You really don’t have to…”

“Anyway, thanks to hyung, I can finally use my specialty here. Thank you so much!”

Machoking bowed ninety degrees.

Irim had no idea what he meant by “specialty” and could only tilt his head in confusion.

Seeing that, Machoking grinned and squatted down.

“Watch closely.”

He took out a hoe and quickly tilled the ground. THUD THUD

In an instant, a 1×1 meter field was created.

“This is a ‘specialty field’ that only Farmers can make.”

“Oh? So your profession is Farmer?”

“Yes! Isn’t it an amazing profession, hyung?”

While speaking, Machoking scattered fertilizer and mixed it into the soil.

“The only seeds I got from the Farmer profession quest are bean sprout beans, dried green onion flower seeds, and rice seeds. Let me grow them with the ‘Farming’ skill.”

Machoking divided the specialty field into three sections, planted the seeds, and watered them with a watering can.

Immediately, all three crops began growing at the same time.

On one side, bean sprouts shot up in thick bunches with yellow heads stretching long, on another, green onions grew tall and straight.

Finally, the rice grew vigorously, turned golden, and bowed its heads.

“Isn’t it insane? This is the power of the specialty field, hyung! Anything you plant grows super fast. But my Farming skill is still low, so the quality isn’t great.”

While speaking, Machoking harvested the bean sprouts, green onions, and rice.

Looking at them, Irim thought,

This is literally screaming at me to make bean sprout hangover soup.

Gulp!

Irim swallowed hard.

Probably because he had drunk beer with Yoo Mirae and Kim Soonyoung yesterday, the craving for bean sprout hangover soup hit even harder.

“Machoking. Would you maybe sell those crops to me? I’ll make you something delicious in return.”

“Huh? No way, why would you say that, hyung?”

Machoking’s eyes widened in shock.

Irim thought it was a refusal, but,

“If hyung wants them, of course I’ll just give them to you!”

It was the complete opposite.

Irim tried several more times to say he would pay, but Machoking was stubborn.

In the end, they agreed that Irim would treat him to delicious food.

Irim took out his cooking tools and set them up.

Across from him, Machoking sat politely on his knees, watching Irim with eyes full of anticipation.

First, Irim washed the rice and let it soak for a while.

While the rice soaked, he cleaned the bean sprouts, trimmed them, and finely chopped the green onions.

He also minced a few garlic cloves and diagonally sliced some green chili peppers for garnish.

It would’ve been perfect with kimchi.

Adding a bit of kimchi to bean sprout soup turns it into spicy kimchi bean sprout soup, another delicacy.

Regretfully, Irim filled a pot with water and started boiling it.

Meanwhile, he put the soaked rice into another pot.

For perfect pot rice, the rice-to-water ratio should be 1:1.

If the rice hasn’t soaked enough, just add a little more water.

Place it on high heat until steam rises, then reduce to low heat and wait 8–10 minutes.

After that, turn off the heat completely and let it steam for 5 minutes. Done.

While the pot rice cooked, Irim added shrimp and crab to the boiling water.

He had no proper stock ingredients, so he used these as substitutes.

Once enough flavor had been extracted, he added the bean sprouts and minced garlic.

When boiling bean sprouts, never cover the pot.

If you do, the fishy smell doesn’t escape and seeps completely into the soup.

Add some salt too.

Irim added an appropriate amount of salt and tasted it.

Slurp.

Not bad.

The savory umami from the seafood, the saltiness, and the refreshing taste of the bean sprouts blended perfectly; the flavor was excellent.

Time to finish.

Irim added the chopped green onions and green chilies to the bean sprout hangover soup, boiled it a little longer, then removed it from the heat.

Finally, he ground black pepper and sprinkled it on top.

Just then, the pot rice finished cooking.

Irim took out four large bowls and served the rice and bean sprout hangover soup.

Machoking looked at the pure white steamed rice and bean sprout hangover soup placed in front of him and spoke in a trembling voice, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“H-hyung! Is this real? Can food like this even exist in Real?”

“I’ve never made bean sprout hangover soup before either, so I’m not sure how it’ll turn out.”

“Of course it’ll be delicious! Let me try it!”

Machoking scooped a big spoonful of rice, put it in his mouth, then sipped the bean sprout hangover soup. Slurp.

In that moment,

BOOOOOOM!

Flavor exploded in his mouth.